By Brian Ojanpa
Free Press Staff Writer
MANKATO — A 10-bed Mankato facility for people with mental health problems will close as part of a plan to redesign the state of Minnesota’s mental health system.
Mankato Crisis Center, which opened in 2006, will cease as a short-term clinic in the near future. Services will be transferred to the Community Behavioral Health Hospital in St. Peter.
Similar facilities in Cold Spring and Eveleth also will close.
Minnesota Public Radio reports that the cuts are a portion of the $17 million in reductions to state services that are part of Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s latest budget proposal.
Human Services Commissioner Cal Ludeman said the clinic closures and other changes statewide are being made to provide stronger and more coordinated care for individuals.
“Our goal is to maximize quality and efficiency. To do this we are committed to partnering with community providers to ensure that solutions reflect unique regional needs,” Ludeman said.
The Mankato facility has been averaging about five daily residential clients for the past year, according to state figures.
“We had thought there might be a little greater usage of the residential unit than what we’ve seen,” Blue Earth County Human Services Director Bob Meyer said.
However, he said the facility’s urgent-care psychiatry and crisis stabilization components have met expectations.
“Those have been a very valuable resource to us in the community.”
A total of 2.5 full-time equivalent jobs were eliminated at the crisis center in 2008 as part of state mental health services cutbacks in which 111 positions were terminated.
The impending statewide closures and transitions include the transfer of one unit at Anoka-Metro Regional Treatment Center to a state-operated psychiatric nursing facility in St. Peter.
About 200 full-time positions statewide will be eliminated, and the changes will be done in phases during the next 15 months.
“They’re kind of plugging this as a redesign of the system, but it still is a $17 million cut,” said Sue Abderholden, executive director of the Minnesota chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness. “I really do find it hard to believe that we’re going to be able to cut $17 million and improve and enhance our services at the same time.”
Dr. L. Read Sulik, assistant state commissioner for chemical and mental health services, said the redesign was formulated following a series of stakeholder meetings and input from nearly 1,000 Minnesotans.
The Department of Human Services said the following key themes emerged from the stakeholder meetings:
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
